Wenger dismisses criticism of his side from former Manchester United star

Author:
Barnaby Lane
March 1, 2018

Arsene Wenger has dismissed criticism of his side from former Manchester United star Gary Neville following their Carabao Cup final defeat to Manchester City.

The Gunners were humbled 3-0 by Pep Guardiola’s side at Wembley at the weekend thanks to goals from Sergio Aguero, Vincent Kompany and David Silva.

And their performance on the day attracted plenty of criticism, none less so than from Neville, who now acts as a pundit for Sky Sports.

“They are an absolute disgrace. Walking on a football pitch at Wembley, giving up… spineless,” were amongst the scathing comments made by Neville of Arsene Wenger’s side – however the Frenchman has since hit-back, saying his players ‘gave everything’ during Sunday’s final.

When asked about Neville’s comments on his side walking back, Wenger responded: “Yes, but you could find that on both sides. You can always get out pictures from a game that justifies what you think, you find in every single game, on both sides, moments where a player doesn’t track.

“After you have to analyse why, has he made two runs before to go in behind and was exhausted, or did he not track because he didn’t want to? That is different.”

He continued: “I am long enough in the game to know that when you lose a big game, people always say that the players don’t want it enough – that is a common response that you get, you always get that.

“You have to analyse whether that is the serious problem in the game, did we lose the game because of that – I am not convinced. When there is a big difference like 3-0 you always get that impression. For me, it is not the main reason.”